


The Empty Earth

by liseraptorknight



Category: A Canticle For Leibowitz, Guild Wars 2 (Video Game), Guild Wars Series (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, Crossover, Gen, Humans are Aliens, Missing Persons, Post-Apocalypse, Post-Nuclear War, historical revisionism, story told through documents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2018-11-05 07:38:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11008914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liseraptorknight/pseuds/liseraptorknight
Summary: A Durmand Priory magister makes an uncomfortable discovery about the origins of humanity.





	1. Chapter 1

“Be for Man the memory of Earth and Origin. Remember this Earth. Never forget her, but — never come back. If you come back, you might meet the Archangel at the east end of Earth, guarding her passes with a sword of flame. I feel it. Space is your home hereafter. It’s a lonelier desert than ours. God bless you, and pray for us.”

- _A Canticle for Leibowitz_ , Walter M. Miller

* * *

**Taken from a lecture given by Magister Parvana Madani in 1324 AE for a class on the subject of human history.**

Where is humanity from? Where does mankind place its point of origin?

If the followers of the Six Gods are to be believed, we came from Orr out of the Mists. If we believe an anthropological study conducted nearly a century ago, humanity originated somewhere on a landmass to the West of Cantha and slowly migrated up into Elona to Tyria and perhaps to places beyond our reach.

According to few and fragmented accounts given by Jotun storytellers, humanity came west from across the sea in ships before settling on the coasts. Worth noting in these stories is that the gods did not favor us, only the Jotun and the Norn before abandoning them and guiding humanity from primitives to a great civilization.

Now, after our murky origins, we know that the gods left mankind and either returned, fled, or vanished into the Mists, an event known to us as the Exodus of the Gods. Human civilization fell to war and eventual ruin as the Charr and other races took advantage of our disunity and reliance on powerful beings to shepherd us.

We also know that the gods, if so they can be called, did not create the bloodstone. Rather, they took it from somewhere and split it into six pieces within the city of Arah. Definite proof of this statement is rather hard to obtain, thanks to an Elder Dragon parking his rotting bum right on Arah. We also know that they erased Abbadon from the pantheon, to the point of purging his name from all records and destroying his temples and statues. Were you to ask a priest before the events of Nightfall, Abbadon never existed.

With these facts in mind, the question of humanity’s origins may never be truly answered beyond the simple fact that we- humans, may not be part of Tyria at all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Fragments of a letter found half burnt in the wreckage of the Airship _Slice of the Sky._ 1328 AE**

* * *

 

To Magister Madani:

Greetings…. [ _indecipherable_ ] lecture on humanity…

They pulled me out of Arah, the wankers. I had some important [ _illegible_ ] office. I don’t give a flying [ _several words scratched out_ ] damn about what the Marshal and the Steward say. If I had any say in this, I would have stayed cataloging artifacts…. [ _obscured by what appear to be stains_ ] No matter. Found something… interested… couldn’t take it back with me, so I enclosed a…

[ _The letter ends here, in a torn off fragment. The author, Magister Rithe, withstood the call of Mordremoth, but perished in the Battle for Tarir. Nothing found in his personal effects in either the Priory or the Pact camp at the Gates of Arah indicated that he had found something worth bringing to Magister Madani’s attention. She was in a field hospital in the Silverwastes at the time of the Fleet’s destruction._ ]


	3. Chapter 3

**Excerpt from a Memo sent by Magister Madani to Ogden Stonehealer. 1329 AE**

* * *

…Anyways, I went digging through Rithe’s old effects. Thank you so much for sending them to me. I like sitting on the beach looking out at the harbor lights while reading them in the lamplight. Sometimes I swear I can hear his voice, but that is neither here nor there.

Found what he was working on before he died- I do not know if I believe him or not. I need nearly missed it. His other diary was in the bottom of his trunk, in a little compartment. Initially, I had no idea why he’d stick a diary/research journal in such a place. Rithe was always really open with his research.

It’s about humanity. Where we- they originate and I am not entirely certain that such information- considering current religious and political climates. Could I speak with you and Steward Gixx alone? At your earliest convenience of course.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Excerpt from the Personal Research Journal of Magister Rithe. c. 1327 AE**

* * *

 

  * Kenning: n. a compound expression in Old Jotun and Old Norn poetry with metaphorical meaning, e.g., _oar-steed_ = ship.



 

  * Transcription of a Dedication carved into the entryway of the Royal Observatory:



_Hail to the favored of the Gods._

_Hail to the People who sailed the Ocean of Stars._

_Hail to the Wise._

_May the Gods enlighten your path._

  * Commentary: The dedication appears in both Orrian and in Jotun runes. Any ambiguity might be attributed to translation quirks. The line “Favored of the Gods” is obvious. The Six chose humanity to raise from primitive to a great civilization. The other lines are fairly obvious, in relation to Astrology, the old superstition, but it’s the second line that on further examination is- odd. First, it’s in the past tense, when we know that the observatory was used heavily up until the Cataclysm. “Sailing an Ocean of Stars” is a kenning for astronomy, the metaphorical sailing across the heavens by the mere act of methodical observations. “Ocean of Stars” is obviously the sky, but something about it just, seems odd. Everything else in the dedication is quite literal. I’ll see if the archive beneath the observatory still has anything of note.




	5. Chapter 5

**Magister Madani’s personal journal. 1330 AE**

* * *

 

Rithe’s journal is like one of those pinboards you see in a cheap graphic novel about some ancient conspiracy- full of tiny details and small moments and marginalia all somehow linked to something. Something. And dancing around the actual issue.

I don’t know what he found that could put him so badly out of sorts, enough to make him keep something this disorganized and to not disclose any information whatsoever even in his own private journal. Is it something horrible or is it something awesome. “Awesome” in the old sense of the world implying an almost religious sense of fear.

Or maybe the silence is getting to me at last and I can’t think straight. There’s a strange energy in the air down here, simultaneously alien and familiar- almost intoxicating. I’m getting close either way and whatever is waiting for me at the end had better be worth this wild goose chase.


	6. Chapter 6

**Letter to the Parents/Nearest Kin of Parvana Madani from Warmaster Aghamoran. 1330 AE**

* * *

 

Arvin and Laleh Madani,

I deeply regret to inform you that your daughter, Magister Parvana Madani, has gone missing in the line of duty. No information is available at present concerning her last known whereabouts. You will be promptly furnished any new information concerning her. Please accept my heartfelt sympathy.

Warmaster Aghamoran

113th Vigil Squadron


	7. Chapter 7

**Excerpt of a Memorandum from Ogden Stonehealer to Steward Gixx. 1330 AE**

* * *

… I believe, without a shadow of a doubt that the artifacts recovered with the audio logs are indeed authentic. The age of the document alone fits with that given by Magister Madani’s account.

The purpose of the Durmand Priory is to preserve and to disseminate knowledge, but this- in light of recent events in Rata Novus and Draconis Mons is as dangerous, if not moreso than a human god returning to Tyria.

I recommend preserving these documents and placing them in the most strictly guarded shelves of the Priory’s Restricted Section. I fear what would befall humanity if this information reached certain persons.


	8. Chapter 8

**Memorandum from Steward Gixx to Ogden Stonehealer. 1330 AE**

* * *

 

To: Magister Stonehealer

Re: Magister Madani’s Findings

Agreed. This knowledge, in the wrong hands could do incalculable damage to Pact relations and those between factions grappling for control of the Krytan government. I also propose a meeting with the Order of Whispers, perhaps they could shed more light on Magister Madani’s abrupt disappearance, let alone her whereabouts.


	9. Chapter 9

Transcriber’s Notes:  _As of this, Magister Madani is still missing. Investigations are underway, but nothing conclusive has been found besides her journal and several recovered artifacts. All these items were left in a waterproof box conspicuously marked. It is clear she intended them to be found. In the light of recent events, it is believed that the Magister is heading south, towards Elona.  
_

* * *

 

"Turn your faces away oh sons and daughters, let not his gifts tempt you." – _The “Scriptures” of Abbadon_

 

Such scriptures are meant to obscure the truth, and I deem, keep humanity from the spirit of inquiry which is our defining feature. Such is the power of faith abused- a warping of truth, and erasure of rightful history. As a magister of the Durmand Priory and a devotee of Kormir, it is my duty to seek the truth, however discomfiting my findings might be. In this commentary, I wish to present unto my superiors and my goddess the history of humanity and its origins. This volume is slim, incomplete. There are not enough words in any tongue to describe that which preceded.

Humanity fled its origin, a small blue planet called Earth. They fled in great silver vessels, generation ships, built under the guidance of their greatest minds in the vague, impossible hope of new worlds suitable for habitation. Centuries passed. Humanity scattered to the cosmos, forgetting the other ships and the memory of their homeworld. One such vessel, guided by six entities, found Tyria. Human history, as we know it, begins.

But what of Origin? What catastrophe would drive a race to choose between the empty vacuum of space and extinction? What would be so terrible to be only mentioned in vague margins?

Origin, you see, likes upon and broken, poisoned world. It was not an act of a nature, the wrath of a diety, or an extraterrestrial invader which condemned humanity to exile. Humanity drove itself into the cosmos with terrible weapons, atomic bombs. These devices destroyed entire cities in a blink of ash and fire. The land upon which they fell would remain toxic for thousands of years.

The atomic bombs were supposed to be so terrible that no nation would dare use them against each other for fear of instant retaliation. Nevertheless, stockpiles amassed and rival nations stared each other down across the sword of atomic fire. For a few generations, there was peace, but peace forged at swordpoint is fleeting. Paranoia, rivalries, and grievances both old and new override the fear of annihilation. This history does not record the name of the nation which struck the first blow. However, it does record that the conflict began as two empires grappled for dwindling resources and cultural influence.

Within mere weeks, both empires lay in ruins. Old alliances dissolved into wave of retaliation after retaliation. Most of the world lay in broken ruins. Survivors who could flee in the generation ships did so, leaving the unlucky to slow death.

Perhaps, somewhere out in the infinity of the cosmos, are other worlds inhabited by humanity. Perhaps, these humans overcame the base natures of their ancestors. Perhaps their origin is inhabitable once again and the survivors limping back towards civilization.

I am the memory of Earth and Origin. Remember Earth. Never forget her, but — never come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it is done, just in time for the release of the second expansion, Path of Fire. I began writing this short story back in May with the release of Flashpoint. Most of the chapters were completed within days of the release. It is the final chapter, the reveal of the magister's findings which gave me the most difficulty- trying to find the balance between the melodrama of old-school science fiction, from which this piece draws heavy influence, and dry academic writing.


End file.
